|  |
| |
 |
 |  |
 |  |
|
| | | 2009 Zebrafish Course Student Bios Long Cai, Assistant Professor of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology I am just starting my lab at MIT. I am interested in signaling dynamics in single cells and how stochasticity plays a role in signal processing. I hope to look at signaling pathways in zebrafish to study decision making during development. Jorge Cantu, Graduate student, Interdepartmental Neuroscience (NUIN) Graduate Student, Children's Memorial Research Center, Northwestern University As a graduate student in the laboratory of Dr. Jacek Topczewski, I am using the zebrafish to study mechanisms of axon guidance and synaptogenesis, two critical steps in the development of any neural circuit. My goal is to assist in the discovery of novel therapies for traumatic brain and spinal cord injury by increasing our knowledge of the molecular players involved in the natural development of the nervous system. George Eisenhoffer Jr., Post-doctoral fellow, Huntsman Cancer Institute, Salt Lake City I am a postdoctoral fellow in Jody Rosenblatt's laboratory at the Huntsman Cancer Institute where I am studying the development and maintenance of epithelial tissues. My project is focused on elucidating the mechanisms that regulate epithelial cell turnover while preserving the barrier function of the tissue. I am looking forward to using the powerful cellular and genetic tools available in zebrafish to investigate these processes in vivo. Raúl Estévez, Professor of Physiology, University of Barcelona (IDIBELL) I am a physiologist on the faculty of University of Barcelona school of Medicine, forming part of IDIBELL. May main interest is transport processes mediated by ion channels or transporters, and genetic disorders caused by defects in transport. One of the main genetic disorders we studied is megalencephalic leukoencephalopathy, which results in disturbances in brain water homeostasis. We started to generate a zebrafish model of the disease two years ago, and we plan to use zebrafish as a tool to understand the pathophysiology of these transport disorders" Robert Fischer, Staff Scientist, National Institutes of Health I am a cell biologist at the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, where I work to understand the cytomechanical cues that govern cell migration in three dimensional matrices. In particular, I am interested in how endothelial cells pattern vasculature via their cell migration, which is turn regulated by both soluble and matrix bound signals that direct changes in cell adhesion and cytoskeletal polymer dynamics. We use a combination of time-lapse, photoconversion, and fluorescence speckle microscopy modalities to analyze cell adhesion and cytoskeletal dynamics in cells in 2D and 3D. My interest in zebrafish is to use these techniques to better understand endothelial cell migration in vivo during embryonic development. Rita Fior, Post-doc, Instituto de Medicina Molecular/ Instituto Gulbênkian Ciência I am a developmental biologist working at the IMM, Lisbon, Portugal. I am interested in what is the difference in the Delta-Notch circuitries that operate during neurogenesis and somitogenesis that lead to completely different outcomes- lateral inhibition vs synchronization. I am investigating if during somitogenesis there is a “proneural“ counterpart in the circuitry, and I found a bHLH coding gene expressed in the posterior PSM that seemed a good candidate: mesogenin. I am using zebrafish to study how mesogenin integrates in the Delta-Notch circuitry that controls somite formation and investing its role in mesoderm differentiation. Robert J. Harvey, Professor of Neuroscience and Genetics, The School of Pharmacy, London I am a Professor of Molecular Neuroscience and Genetics, studying the biology of inhibitory glycinergic synapses in health and disease. Zebrafish have an extensive array of glycine receptor and transporter genes, as well as ENU-induced mutants (beo, sho) with proven glycinergic dysfunction. I wish to exploit the advantages of zebrafish molecular genetics, phenotyping and gene knockdown methodologies to learn more about the diverse roles of glycine receptors, transporters and associated proteins. Flora Hinz, Ph.D. Candidate, Division of Biology,California Institute of Technology I am a 3rd year graduate student in Dr. Erin Schuman’s lab at Caltech. Our lab studies synaptic plasticity, and the aim of my project specifically is to monitor new protein synthesis in the nervous system of larval zebrafish using a novel fluorescent labeling strategy developed in the lab. I hope to pair this with a conditioning paradigm to visualize the formation of memory traces. Erika Kague, Post-doctoral fellow, University of Sao Paulo I am just starting my post doctoral fellowship at uPENN. I have great interest in transcription gene regulation (with focus on osteogenesis genes) and craniosynostosis syndromes, I'll be using the zebrafish for functional tests of regulatory elements and genes related with craniosynostosis. Fumi Kubo, Post-doctoral fellow, RIKEN Advanced Science Institute, Japan I am a postdoctoral fellow at the RIKEN Advanced Science Institute, Japan. I have been interested in the molecular mechanisms underlying the retinal stem cells maintenance, and studying the role of Wnt signaling pathway in chick retina. During the course of my study, I became interested in working on visually-guided behavior. To analyze neural circuits controlling visually-guided behavior, I am planning to use zebrafish as a model system, taking advantage of genetics and imaging techniques. Hiroki Matsuda, Post-doctoral fellow, Johns Hopkins University I am a new postdoctoral fellow in Steven Leach’s lab at Johns Hopkins University. Currently I am interested in development and regeneration in pancreas. I am interested in using zebrafish as a model system to understand these phenomenon. Adam D. McPherson, PhD Student, Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, University of Utah I am a graduate student in the Neuroscience Program and work in Richard Dorsky’s lab. I am investigating the mechanisms of Wnt signaling by studying Wnt-dependent neurogenesis in the zebrafish hypothalamus. I hope to define the anatomy and function of these Wnt-responsive cells by taking advantage of the strong embryological and molecular techniques in the zebrafish model system. Adam Miller, Post-doctoral fellow, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA I recently started my postdoc with Cecilia Moens and I am currently working on projects aimed at understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying neuronal migration and synapse formation. I am excited to use the genetics, molecular tools, and in vivo accessibility of the fish to unravel the mechanisms leading to the development of the vertebrate brain. Jamie Nichols, Post-doctoral fellow, University of Oregon I am a postdoc in the lab of Chuck Kimmel at the University of Oregon. I am interested in cell communication pathways and their regulation of cell migration, differentiation, and proliferation. I look forward to using zebrafish craniofacial development as a model system for understanding cell signaling in vivo. Andrea Pauli, Post-doctoral fellow, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University I have just finished my PhD in Kim Nasmyth’s lab at the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Oxford, UK, during which I was investigating non-canonical functions of the protein complex cohesin in post-mitotic cells in Drosophila melanogaster. While leaving flies and proteins behind, I will stick to the “non-canonical” as a postdoctoral fellow in Alex Schier’s lab. The recent discovery that most of our genome is transcribed, while only a small fraction codes for proteins, raised the intriguing possibility that (at least some of those) non-coding transcripts might indeed have key functions during development. My plan is to establish and employ zebrafish as in vivo model to discover the roles of long non-coding RNAs during embryogenesis. Judith Schenk, PhD student, Max-Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics I am a developmental neurobiologist at the Max-Planck-Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics in Dresden, Germany. In the future I would like to use the zebrafish as a model organism to understand developmental processes in the central nervous system such as cell division, cell migration and tissue morphogenesis. Rachel Tittle, Post-doctoral fellow, University of Texas at Austin I am a postdoc in Jeff Gross' lab at UT Austin. The lab is interested in eye development and utilizes the zebrafish as a model. My project examines the role of epigenetic regulation in lens development. Benoit Vanhollebeke, Post-doctoral fellow, University of California San Francisco, Biochemistry and Biophysics Department, Stainier laboratory My current interest centres on the study of vascular biology with an emphasis on the complex regulations that govern endothelial bed permeability. Using zebrafish as model organism offers me the unique possibility to study those processes at the organism level, during development and adulthood. Silvia Vergarajauregui, Post-doctoral fellow, National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI), National Institutes of Health I am a post-doctoral fellow in the Lab of Cell Biology at the NHLBI/NIH. My main research interest is to understand how defects in intracellular protein trafficking might lead to the development of human diseases. For the past few years I have been working on the characterization of Mucolipin1, the causative protein of the lysosomal storage disorder Mucolipidosis IV (MLIV). My current and future goal is to develop a zebrafish model of MLIV disease and to exploit it to address important questions in mucolipin research M. Fatih Yanik, Assistant Professor of Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology My lab develops high-content high-throughput in vitro and in vivo genetic and chemical screening technologies. We focus on developmental neurogenesis and adult neuronal regeneration. www.rle.mit.edu/Yanik |
|
| HOME | EDUCATION | RESEARCH | INSIDE THE MBL | CONTACT | SEARCH copyright © 2009 by The Marine Biological LaboratoryTM |  |
| ||
